“It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not.”

There is something about fortune cookies that I like. It’s like your own little piece of gypsy wrapped in a carb baked cookie after you ate your body weight in spicy eggplant. Very comforting.

I’ve always kept my little wisdom, I take them home and keep them in a glass jar. Sometimes I’m excited about it, sometimes I just smirk and sometimes it makes me think.

Like this one, I got today. (Cheat meal obviously, no judging).

The past few months have been about the next step, the next version of oneself. I’ve asked myself if what I was doing on any given day was going to get me closer to who I want to be tomorrow.

It takes courage! It takes courage to understand that the one person holding you back, is most likely yourself.

“Close your eyes and imagine the best version of you possible. That’s who you really are, let go of any part of you that doesn’t believe it.” -C. Assaad

Here are a few things I had to let go so that I can grow:

– Doubting yourself

Never, never good for anyone. Try with all you got, should you fail- you’ll grow from it. If you doubt yourself in the beginning you ain’t going anywhere. Just because something states ‘CLOSED’ don’t doubt that you can’t get there! Roads closed? You hike! Believe me I learned a lot about that, with compliments to the highway 1 closure!

– Procrastination

I am still very guilty of this one, it’s a tough habit to break. I’m trying hard. Again, make a decision that is in line with what you believe in – that holds up your standards of integrity – and base it on weather it gets you closer to where you want to be. If it does not work out, you will grow. Be informed about your options but make that decision!

– Negative Self Talk or Negative Thoughts

Just don’t. Do not ever do that. I made myself run a mile for every negative thought that I caught. Pretty sure I can run a marathon soon. Get something positive out of something negative. Sore hamstrings don’t count!

– Fear of success

I learned once that fear translates to ‘False Evidence Appearing Real’ and one cannot fear being successful. Or what other people think about ones success. If you work hard and give it your all, you are deserving of the success and no one can take that from you! This is not about luck, this is about working hard and getting what you work hard for! Go for it!

– People Pleasing

Ugh a tough one. I work in hospitality I do it all the time. I had to learn that unless they are guests, you can’t walk through life pleasing other people. Be kind, help others be their best and be humble but that does not equal the constant need to please other people.

– Do not take criticism personally

Listen to it, no matter how painful. Acknowledge good points made, disagree without being disrespectful. Remember that anyone who accomplishes great things will have some critics. Remember your own core values, take what you need to grow and be appreciative of it.

As the one and only Dr. Brene Brown said: You can choose courage or you can choose comfort but you cannot choose both!

“I’m stronger because I had to be, I’m smarter because of my mistakes, happier because of the sadness I’ve known, and now wiser because I learned.” -Curiano

It’s ok to be like a glow stick, because sometimes you have to break before you can shine!

From there you can start your comeback. You stop asking why certain doors have been closed, because at that point you are to busy being grateful for the doors that are about to open.

That one day it just clicks, you realize what’s important and what’s not. You learn to care less about what other people think of you and more about what you think of yourself. You realize how far you’ve come- and the places you have ahead. You remember times when you thought things where messy and feared that you could never recover. And you smile. You smile because you are proud of yourself and the person you’ve fought to become. There are some things you can only learn in a storm, and in order to be the best- you learn to handle the worst. You can do it! You can make it happen.

* Pictured above, a squirrel in the early morning hours at the fire pit in Carmel Valley, getting some of the leftover s’mores crackers. Squirrels are a Native American symbol of preparation, trust and thriftiness. Have you seen a squirrel trying to get food from a bird feeder or else? If so, you’ve seen their smart behavior in making it happen. Then they bury their nuts in the ground, a behavior that is called caching. They do find and eat most of their nuts and seeds, but the ones that are not recovered sprout in the spring and grown into plants and trees, thus they assist in forest renewal. And they are obviously adorable. The German word for squirrel is Eichhörnchen– Stop already with the cuteness!

“If you want to be happy, you have to be happy on purpose. When you wake up, you can’t just wait to see what kind of day you’ll have. You have to decide what kind of day you’ll have” -Joel Osteen

Happiness is achieved when you stop waiting for it and make the most out of the moment you’re in. So stop waiting for Friday when it’s Monday. For summer when it’s fall, for someone to love you like you think you deserve and stop waiting for your life to happen. You need to make it happen.

“And suddenly you just know it’s time to start something new and trust the magic of new beginnings!” Because “With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” -Eleanor Roosevelt

(There is something about new beginnings, they are like fire and ice, like a crisp fall morning. There will be the day when you wake up and know that you have the strength you need to push through the glass ceiling and start a new pattern. Cheer to that, to the power of new beginnings! )

Sometimes the best thing you can do is not think, not wonder, not imagine, not obsess. Just breathe and have faith that everything will work out for the best. -Unknown

You’ve always had the power my dear, you just had to learn if for yourself. -The Wizard of Oz

(Picture of my newly unwrapped Dubai porcelain, dropped and shattered immediately after unpacking. You’ve got it in your own hands. Though in my native Germany, breaking porcelain brings luck. It’s the way you see things, they way you let it effect you that counts. “Scherben bringen Glück!” And that may be the single most important reason I love to travel, it opens your eyes, your heart and your thoughts. It broadens your horizon. One thing may be unfortunate in one country and a blessing in another. You pick!)

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunity and look towards another island. There is no other land. There is no other life but this!” – Henry David Thoreau